Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has formally signed the treaty to accede to CPTPP trade group in New Zealand, starting the UK’s membership of a trade deal spanning 12 economies across Asia, the Pacific, and now Europe.
The Secretary of State is in Auckland to put pen to paper on this mega deal, alongside New Zealand Trade Minister Damien O’Connor, Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng, Japanese Minister for Economic Revitalisation Goto Shigeyuki and Australian Deputy Trade Minister Tim Ayres.
The signature is the formal confirmation of agreement for the UK to join the group, following substantial conclusion of negotiations earlier this year. The Government will now seek to ratify the agreement, which will include parliamentary scrutiny, whilst other CPTPP countries complete their own legislative processes.
The signing comes as a new government report reveals one in every 100 UK workers was employed by a business headquartered in a CPTPP member nation in 2019, equating to over 400,000 jobs across the country.
Membership of the trade group is expected to spark further investment in the UK by CPTPP countries, already worth £182 billion in 2021, by guaranteeing protections for investors.
Kemi Badenoch, Business and Trade Secretary, said:
"I’m delighted to be here in New Zealand to sign a deal that will be a big boost for British businesses and deliver billions of pounds in additional trade, as well as open up huge opportunities and unparalleled access to a market of over 500 million people. We are using our status as an independent trading nation to join an exciting, growing, forward-looking trade bloc, which will help grow the UK economy and build on the hundreds of thousands of jobs CPTPP-owned businesses already support up and down the country."
Ian Galbraith, Group Strategy Director, Mott MacDonald, said:
"Mott MacDonald is strongly supportive of UK accession to CPTPP and proud to have been part of the technical board advising the British negotiating team. The Partnership’s ambitious services and procurement chapters pave the way for greater recognition of professional competence in engineering and architecture, and establish open, fair and transparent competition rules in government procurement, allowing world-leading firms like Mott MacDonald to win and service new contracts across the many countries covered by CPTPP."